Before you read Ecclesiastes, consider the following information:
“There has never been a better time to be a billionaire. Thanks to AI’s explosion, sizzling markets and favorable fiscal policies, a record 3,428 entrepreneurs, investors and heirs made this year’s World’s Billionaires list, 400 more than in 2025. They are richer than ever, worth a record $20.1 trillion…” Forbes 2026 Billionaires List – The Richest People In The World Ranked
On the other hand:
“As of 2024, 847 million people are estimated to live in extreme poverty…poverty … is defined as living in households with insufficient income to meet basic needs, measured both in relative and absolute terms, with increasing depth and intensity affecting millions…” https://blogs.worldbank.org
The richest man in the world is estimated to be worth over US$850 billion. The poorest people in the world live on less than $3 per day, with many surviving on under $2.15 per day in extreme poverty contexts.
The old saying, “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer” is just as true now as it was when Qoheleth was writing thousands of years ago. Consider his words:
8 If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.
Qoheleth suggests that we shouldn’t be surprised at such things! Not so much that there are rich and poor, which will always be the case, but if these riches have been accumulated unjustly and to the detriment of the poor. I don’t think he is suggesting that we should just accept this and move on, but have the same attitude as “Andrew Jackson, the seventh President of the U.S. (1829–1837), [who] in his 1832 bank veto, said that ‘when the laws undertake… to make the rich richer and the potent more powerful, the humble members of society… have a right to complain of the injustice to their government.’” https://en.wikipedia.org
Qoheleth continues:
10 Whoever loves money never has enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.
This too is meaningless.
11 As goods increase,
so do those who consume them.
And what benefit are they to the owners
except to feast their eyes on them?
In the western world we have a strange phenomenon called “self-storage units”, where you pay for the ‘privilege’ of storing your possessions safely. Usually, those things which no longer fit in your present accommodation. I wonder why we need so much “stuff”? As Qoheleth says, what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them?
He continues:
12 The sleep of a laborer is sweet,
whether they eat little or much,
but as for the rich, their abundance
permits them no sleep.
I guess some ‘laborers’ may not necessarily agree with Qoheleth here, and in particular if they have little to eat, as well as their family members.
But, one wonders, concerning the ‘rich’ and having insomnia, whether this may be true, and is it really worth it, worrying about the next stock market crash or maybe even an AI takeover causing future chaos?
But Qoheleth is not finished with this subject yet. He continues:
13 I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners,
14 or wealth lost through some misfortune,
so that when they have children
there is nothing left for them to inherit.
Maybe, we all know of some people who have experienced the above.
And then the truth that no matter what the state of our finances, none of us can deny or avoid the fact that:
15 Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb,
and as everyone comes, so they depart.
They take nothing from their toil
that they can carry in their hands.
That includes the ones who have a bank balance of billions of dollars and the ones who only live on $3 a day. As everyone comes, so they depart.
But it seems this gives little comfort to Qoheleth who says:
16 This too is a grievous evil:
As everyone comes, so they depart,
and what do they gain,
since they toil for the wind?
17 All their days they eat in darkness,
with great frustration, affliction and anger.
He then seems to settle down a bit on a slightly more positive note as he concludes:
18 This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. 19 Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. 20 They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.
David Pawson, commenting on these verses gives the example of Job, a very wealthy man who lost everything in a very short time, but was able to say: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” (Job 1:21)
“God had loaned it [his wealth] to [him] for … a long [time]; [and he was able to acknowledge that and] bless him for that. That is Ecclesiastes’ advice on how to eat and drink and to enjoy what you have while you have it, without becoming so enslaved to it that if it were taken from you, you would feel that life had dropped out. I think there is something quite wonderfully profound there. You can apply it not just to your money. You can apply it to your children, you can apply it to your relationships, you can apply it to your career, you can apply it to everything that God gives you and say: “God, thank you for it. I’ll enjoy it while I have it; if you take it from me tomorrow, I’ll say, “Blessed be the name of the Lord for giving it to me yesterday” (# 61)
Not mentioned here, but generosity is vitally important no matter what our bank balance sheets look like. Some wealthy people have been very generous with their wealth, contributing to worthy causes, and some with meagre funds have also been just as generous. What about you?
Paul sums it up as:
Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:7)
Worship and Wisdom - Psalms, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. 